The Real World (Earthland)
by claiternaiter
Summary: For the People, watching the lives of primitive species was a form of entertainment. For the little girl, it was a form of escape-even if she knew she would never get to go on a real adventure with the little boy with pink hair who could produce fire from his hands.


In a distant galaxy far far away, there lies a beautiful planet similar to our own. Upon this planet is the home of a race of people also similar to our own. Over the millennia, the People have succeeded in great leaps and bounds in technology so that it is now no great feat for the planet's inhabitants to travel into space and explore the universe.

As such, it has become commonplace for the People to send nano-cameras to distant planets light years away in order to observe their inhabitants. The custom began as a way for the People to observe and study creatures of less technologically developed planets, but now it has become a form of entertainment—a way for the People to forget about their own lives and worries by following the lives of aliens less fortunate than themselves. Or at least that is how the lives of the other planets' inhabitants appeared to the superior-minded People.

That is why the little girl's father did not object when he found her spending more and more time observing her watch screen. They were of the High Society; the lucky few who were chosen to lead the People to new worlds. To him, she was fulfilling her duty—she must learn to appreciate her status as a superior being so that she may one day help to educate the poor savage races of any planet the People decide to colonize.

But to the little girl, watching the aliens had become her means of escape.

Ever since she was old enough to understand, she and her mother had followed the lives of the aliens on a planet dubbed "Earthland" by its inhabitants. The little girl was fascinated by how the natives were able to live so comfortably with such primitive technology. Even more so, she had become enamored with a certain group who appeared to be gifted with the ability to bend nature to their will. The little girl and her mother watched for years, following the lives of the "mages" and their many adventures.

They watched together until an illness stole her mother away.

Now she watches to escape. To escape her father, who would no longer talk to her unless it was necessary. To escape the grief that came with her mother's passing. To escape the bitter loneliness that seeped into her due to her forced isolation. As her father said, the Heartfilias would soon be planetary travelers, what use could she have of playmates who would only get in the way anyhow.

So, she found comfort in watching the mages of Earthland. In particular, she found comfort in watching the life of one little boy with pink hair and a dazzling smile. He was always so full of life and carefree that he never failed to cheer her up. As she watched, she would make believe that she was friends with the little boy; going on adventures with him as a constant but silent companion and sharing in his triumphs and defeats. The little boy could produce fire from his body—to the detriment of his foes and friends alike—and the little girl would pretend she was his magic wielding partner as she waved around her mother's antique keys while running around the living room. If she couldn't be happy on her own planet, then she would find joy through the little boy as he traversed his own.

At least, she did until her father made the announcement. The announcement that their family had the honor of secretly colonizing a primitive planet for the purpose of studying its ecosystems and inhabitants and reporting their findings back to their home planet.

The little girl was miserable. She would not have access to the nano-cameras on the new planet and would not get to go on adventures with the little boy again. Her father, ever the practical one, told her that watching the nano-cameras all day was an unhealthy habit and to forget about the boy. She would have plenty of opportunities to learn about the inhabitants of the new planet up close and personal anyway.

The little girl knew it would not be the same, but she also knew her father was right. She had to be strong, if not for her own sake, then for her mother's. She knew her mother would not want her to waste away watching the adventures of other children when she could be out making her own. So, she put on a smile in front of her father and prepared for the trip without too much of a fuss.

The day they boarded the ship to the new planet, the little girl once again put on a smile even though she dreaded leaving everything she knew behind. Her father appeared to see right through her though and before they were put in cryosleep, he told her he had a surprise for her. He told her that he knew leaving was hard for her and that he was very proud of how strong she was being, so when the Director of the Program asked him where he wanted to be sent, he said to send them to Earthland because the little girl loved it so much. The little girl was stunned. She was so grateful that her father would do something like this for her, especially after how cold he'd been since her mother's death, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel as if she had been stabbed in the gut.

She was actually going to the planet where the little boy lived, but she would never get to meet him. The trip to Earthland from her home planet would take about 400 years and while the little girl slept in space, the little boy would be long dead. It hurt to know that she would be so close to him, on the same earth he walked, but never have a chance to go on adventures with him in real life. As she closed her eyes and waited for the cryochamber to take effect, she thought of the little boy she had come to know and love. His pink hair. His bright eyes. His infectious smile. She would never see him again. And to him, she would just be a shooting star racing across the night sky.


End file.
